Tommy Thomason

Tommy Thomason has worked with young writers -- and their teachers -- from Massachusetts to California and most places in between. He brings his passion for writing and the techniques of a writing coach to classes where he models writing workshop, craft lessons, and one-on-one conferencing.

Tommy was a writer who became a teacher, having begun his professional career as a sportswriter in Little Rock, Ark., for the Associated Press.

He was the founding director of the TCU Schieffer School of Journalism and the founder of the Texas Center for Community Journalism, of which he is currently the director. In addition to his work with the Associated Press, he has also worked in public relations in Dallas and as a copyeditor for several regional magazines.

Tommy has taught journalism at five universities and has been at TCU since 1984. In 1987, he was one of the winners of a national Teaching Award in Journalism Ethics from the Poynter Institute of Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Tommy is a former vice president of the International Institute of Literacy Learning, the parent organization of the Bill Martin Jr. literacy conferences. He traveled with Bill Martin for a decade, speaking to teachers in summer conferences throughout the nation.

He is the author of More than a Writing Teacher: How to Become a Teacher Who Writes, Writer to Writer: How to Conference Young Authors, Write On Target: How to Prepare Young Writers for Success on Writing Achievement Tests, Absolutely Write: Teaching the Craft Elements of Writing and Writeaerobics: 40 Exercises to Improve Your Writing Teaching, and Tools, Not Rules: Teaching Grammar in a Writing Classroom. He is co-author of the picture book O is for Oil.

He is listed in Who's Who in the South and Southwest, Who's Who in American Education, Men of Achievement, Who's Who in the World and Dictionary of International Biography. He holds a doctor of education degree from Texas A&M University-Commerce.